Fw: Take Action to Keep Methyl Iodide out of California Fields

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Take Action to Keep Methyl Iodide out of California Fields

Take Action to Keep Methyl Iodide out of California Fields

Comment period expires in a week on June 29th

California is on the verge of approving a dangerous carcinogenic gas for use on strawberry fields and other food crops. Methyl Iodide is so toxic that scientists in labs use only small amounts and wear special protective equipment. In fact it's so reliably carcinogenic that it's used to induce cancer in the lab. It's a fumigant so there is a constant threat of it drifting to farm workers and rural communities.

Yet the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) is on the verge of approving its use in the fields. They are doing this despite their Independent California Scientific Review Committee (SRC) issuing a final report (PDF), which found (PDF) that "any anticipated scenario for the agricultural...use of this agent would...have a significant adverse impact on the public health."

Last Thursday a Sacramento hearing was convened by the California Senate Food and Agriculture Committee, where members of the panel testified. Dr. Froines of UCLA who chaired the committee, said, "This is, without question, one of the most toxic chemicals on earth." DPR does not seem to be listening to the scientists they hired.

Please help. If Methyl Iodide use is approved, this toxic poison can be released directly into California's air. We have to stop this. The DPR is accepting public comments on its proposal through June 28. Please take the time to send an e-mail to the DPR immediately and ask them not to release this toxin into our environment.

There is little to debate about Methyl Iodide's toxicity. It is a known neurotoxin, disrupts thyroid function, damages developing fetuses, and has caused lung tumors in laboratory animals. California already classifies it as a human carcinogen. Fumigating fields with the gas, even with the strictest regulations, would no doubt still result in unacceptable exposures to farm workers and nearby communities.

We have one last chance to stop Methyl Iodide from being used in our fields. Please submit your comment today and tell the DPR that we don't want to be exposed to this poison.

http://action.ufw.org/cadpr_mel

IN THE NEWS...

6/18/2010 New York Times: Dispute Over Pesticide for California Strawberries Has Implications Beyond State..."I'm not in blanket opposition to the use of pesticides, but methyl iodide alarms me," said Theodore A. Slotkin, a professor of pharmacology and cancer biology at Duke University Medical Center and a member of the scientific review committee. "When we come across a compound that is known to be neurotoxic, as well as developmentally toxic and an endocrine disruptor, it would seem prudent to err on the side of caution, demanding that the appropriate scientific testing be done on animals instead of going ahead and putting it into use, in which case the test animals will be the children of the state of California."... More

6/20/2010: NPR Weekend Edition: Controversial Pesticid Worries ScientistsOdds are most supermarket strawberries come from California -- that's where 90 percent of the berries are produced. And if the strawberries are not organic, they were likely grown in fumigated soil, which is creating a stir between scientists and regulators in California. The two groups recently faced off over the expected approval of a potentially dangerous pesticideCurrently, farmers use a fumigant called methyl bromide. But it is being phased out internationally because it damages the ozone layer. And the leading alternative,methyl iodide, has its own set of problems....More.

6/18/2010 CBS News: Calif. Lawmakers Question Strawberry PesticideState legislators grilled officials from California's Department of Pesticide Regulation Thursday over a proposal to move ahead with the use of a possibly toxic pesticide for strawberry fields. At a hearing, DPR officials defended the decision.... Legislators pointed out to DPR's Warmerdam [DPR head], restrictions aren't always followed out in the fields. Warmerdam's responded, "It is difficult for us to regulate to either stupidity ignorance or violations of law."... More

6/17/2010 Ventura County Star: Scientists tell state regulators methyl iodide is too toxic to be used on cropsIndependent scientists who served on a panel selected by state regulators to analyze the health risks of a proposed new agricultural fumigant told lawmakers Thursday they are dumbfounded that the Department of Pesticide Regulation now seeks to authorize its use in California."It's simply not the case that one should move ahead on a chemical that's so toxic that there's evidence of its causing death and disease," said Froines, a professor of environmental health sciences at UCLA who chaired an external scientific review panel that studied the risks of methyl iodide. "This is, without question, one of the most toxic chemicals on earth."...More

June 18-20 The California Report: The Fight Over Methyl Iodide - Part II (AUDIO)Last week we reported on a controversial pesticide the Schwarzenegger administration plans to approve called methyl iodide. The chemical is used to sterilize soil before planting. Strawberry growers say it's key to sustaining their industry. But scientists who advised the state worry that it's too toxic to be used safely. Experts gathered at a hearing this week warned that the chemical will endanger farmworkers and people living near strawberry fields....More

6/18/2010 Pesticide Action Network Update Services: Scientists & Californians stir up Sacramento on methyl iodide...Karin Cushaway, who lives in Sisquoc, CA, at the edge of fields where methyl iodide would likely be used, said: "It's easy for our Governor and other state officials to agree to allow methyl iodide to be used because they don't have it being applied in their back yards."...More

PLEASE JOIN US THIS SATURDAY! You Are Invited to the Grand Opening Celebration of the National Chavez Center's New Conferencing Facility, Villa La PazDate: June 26, 2010Time: 10:00 am to 6:00 pmLocation: National Chavez Center at Nuestra Senora Reina De La Paz, 29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Road, Keene, CA 93531

Blessing, Speakers, Food and Entertainment for the whole familyFeaturing Performances by: Steve Salas from Tierra and the L.A. All Stars and Spirit of Latin RockPhoto exibit opening, "Cesar E. Chavez, A Reflection," by LA area photographer, , at the Visitor Center's gallery.

For more information or to RSVP and for more information go to: http://action.ufw.org/villalapaz

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